28 October 2012

Teen Suicide - "I Will Be My Own Hell Because There Is A Devil Inside My Body"

i will be my own hell because there is a devil inside my body by teen suicide
If you know the musical blogosphere quite well, you might have heard about the musician Sam Ray. Ray has been putting out music very consistently since May 2011 under the name Ricky Eat Acid. The album Seeing Little Ghosts Everywhereis easily his most popular record, and definitely my favorite from him. The album is just a lo-fi and simplistic album of piano, guitar and ambient synths that really put this guy on the map. Thanks to his popularity under Ricky Eat Acid, it has allowed his latest project, Teen Suicide, to get some attention. And I know how weird it sounds, Ricky Eat Acid is playing in a punk band. I know. But, you will be very surprised how well it works out. TS's debut full length I Will Be My Own Hell Because There Is A Devil Inside My Body is a very interesting mix of shoegaze, emo, punk and occasional hints at Sam ambient and experimental past. The album begins with the synth drone "anne", a track that I could definitely see on Seeing Little Ghosts. But then, that side totally breaks away with "give me back to the sky", an incredibly emotive and far out rock song that I thought was great. The production doesn't seem great at first, but the drums and guitars that open the track work perfectly with the sea of reverbed vocals. "have you been eating that sandwich again" reminds me very much of one of the very raw but very catchy songs from Cut Off Your Hands album You & I, but more of in a live setting. "the way we were with people" is a very hazy emo song. "cop graveyard" reminds me of Ricky Eat Acid mixed with C V L T S and Willis Earl Beal. It's a very lo-fi electronics song with some great quietly sung vocals. The synth used on the track is just so interesting sounding that I can't help just love it. "dan collins vs. the maryland judicial system" has a very sour sounding chord structure, but it actually works perfectly with the vocals on the track. It has a very nice breakdown towards the end, just sort of cutting out into an instrumental with a piano headlining. "dead bird skeleton" is a quite shoegazy punk track that also has a mild math rock vibe to it with a very tightly woven end with an interesting time signature. "grim reaper" is definitely a call back to Ricky Eat Acid, but with vocals. "the same things happen to me all the time, even in my dreams" is my favorite song on the album. It just has this very beautiful sound to it with very affecting vocals from Sam and simple and repetitive guitar chords that despite being repetitive feel very important. The track ends in a very sound collage style ambient breakdown, tones of synth chords and drones hanging around everywhere. I just love the track a ton. "Swallow" ends the album perfectly, with a very fragile lo-fi acoustic ballad that is very pretty and touching. While stylistically, this album can definitely be a bit all over the place, I think that with this record, Teen Suicide shows a ton of power and skill. And they definitely know how to make some very emotion filled and raw songs that will stay with me for the rest of the year. You can stream the album up above, and download for free here (courtesy of the band).